she hasn’t taken it.’
‘You are confident?’ he bit out scornfully. ‘It would appear you don’t know your sister as well as you think you do. If you’re that certain, then how do you account for the fact that it disappeared at the same time as Rebecca?’
‘It could be coincidence,’ she returned, shivering despite the warmth of the day, folding her arms across her chest and rocking backwards and forwards on her seat.
‘Too much of a damn coincidence,’ he snorted. ‘No, your sister took the money all right, and I sure as hell am going to make her suffer as soon as I catch up with her! Meanwhile you’ll do very nicely.’
Libby was too dazed to think clearly. She kept shaking her head and looking at Warwick with wide, horrified eyes, at the same time rubbing her chilled arms with icy fingers. ‘It has to be a mistake.’
‘A mistake, yes, on your sister’s part,’ he rasped. ‘I think she took me for some kind of fool.’
‘And the police are looking for her?’ she whispered, suddenly remembering all too clearly that time the policewoman had called at their house and told her that Rebecca was wanted in connection with a robbery. She had felt as if the whole world had suddenly crashed down over her head, and in the hours until it had proved to be a false alarm she had felt physically ill.
‘Naturally,’ he said grimly. ‘But I’m not a patient man. I decided to do a little detective work myself.’
Libby felt as though her heart was going to force its way out of her chest. She had set out on this holiday so happily, and now, in the space of a few short hours, her whole world had turned upside-down. She still couldn’t believe it; in fact she refused to believe it. Rebecca would never do such a thing; she was as sure of that as she had been of anything in her life.
‘Unfortunately,’ he went on resolutely, ‘I’ve had no success so far in tracing Rebecca. I’m hoping that you can tell me where she is?’
‘Me?’ squeaked Libby. ‘How can I tell you? I was expecting to find her on this boat!’
‘You’d not arranged to meet her elsewhere?’
‘Of course not.’
‘She hadn’t asked you to come and pick up those dresses that she left?’
‘Most definitely not,’ snapped Libby. ‘Really, this is all getting beyond a joke.’
‘I find it odd that you’ve come out here at the exact time that she has gone missing.’
‘And I find it odd that she’s gone missing at all!’ Libby’s eyes were a disturbed mauve, heavy with dread and deeply distrustful now of this man who was asking her all these questions. She suddenly wondered about their meeting. It all seemed too contrived, as though he had known all along who she was, as though he had engineered the whole thing.
‘Our meeting wasn’t accidental, was it?’ she asked sharply, her eyes intent on his face, watching for every nuance, no matter how subtle.
He shook his head. ‘No, it wasn’t.’
She had thought he would deny it, and was shocked by the easy admission. ‘You mean to say you planned to take me prisoner all along?’ Her skin crawled at the thought that she had played right into his hands. How could she have been so naive? She ought to have known that a man like Warwick Hunter wouldn’t look twice at a girl like her. She sprang to her feet and glared down at him. ‘You swine; how dare you? What you’ve done is tantamount to abduction. It’s illegal. If I went to the police you’d be in deep, deep trouble.’
‘And your sister’s going to be in deep, deep trouble when they catch her,’ he countered coldly.
Libby wondered how she had ever thought he had a sensual mouth. With lips tightly compressed, it was a vicious straight line. A muscle kept jerking in his jaw and his hands held the wheel in a grip tight enough to make his knuckles white.
‘How did you do it? How did you find out that I’d be on that plane?’ she asked hoarsely.
‘Perhaps more luck than judgement,’ he admitted. ‘I had business in England, and decided to have a watch kept on your house in case Rebecca decided to run back home.’
Libby gasped. It was not pleasant knowing that her every movement had been monitored by a complete stranger.
‘I didn’t really think she would—not with all that money; it would be too risky. Then I was told that you were heading for Gatwick Airport. What else could I think but that you were going to meet her?’
‘How did you know I was Rebecca’s sister? I could have been a friend—anyone.’ Libby was still shivering at the thought of being spied on.
‘Rebecca once showed me your photograph. There are not many girls about with ash-blonde hair like yours. It really was just a matter of finding out which flight you were on. I must admit I was shocked that you were going to Tenerife. I thought Rebecca would have long since left the island.’
‘And very fortunate for you that there was an available seat,’ she thrust angrily. How easily he had duped her! She went cold even thinking about it. All the time he had known exactly who she was, all the time he had been planning to make her his prisoner. And he had gone about it in such a devious manner that she had agreed to sleep here of her own free will. He had not had to exert any force at all. The blood chilled in her veins at the very thought.
‘I can assure you,’ she snapped, ‘that I haven’t the slightest idea at all where Rebecca is. Did you tell the police yesterday that I was here?’
‘I didn’t actually go to see them,’ he admitted coolly. ‘They have their methods; I have mine. I’m actually quite enjoying this game. I’m looking forward to the pleasure of making you suffer.’
‘You’re out of your mind!’ she spat. ‘You can’t keep me prisoner for ever.’ He looked coldly sinister in his dark glasses, and she had never felt so frightened in her life, but her chin jutted and she glared at him fiercely. ‘In any case, what were you doing with so much money on the boat? You ought to have had more sense.’
‘They were the takings from one of my restaurants,’ he informed her coolly.
Libby’s brows rose. She had wondered what he did for a living. ‘I still think it was pretty stupid leaving money lying around. It would be temptation for anyone.’
‘It was in my safe,’ he rasped.
Libby swallowed hard. So it definitely hadn’t been taken on impulse; the whole affair must have been planned. ‘You keep laying the blame on Becky,’ she snapped, ‘but I don’t think it was her at all. Judging by those dresses in her wardrobe, she isn’t short of money. Why should she feel the need to steal?’
‘And how did she buy those clothes?’ Warwick sneered. ‘Have you noticed that they have designer labels? My guess is that I’m not the only person to have fallen prey to her light fingers.’
Libby’s breath hissed out in anger and, swinging her arm in an arc, she slapped him across the face. ‘You bastard! You know nothing. Becky isn’t a thief; she would never do a thing like that. You’re wrong, you’re very wrong, and I hate you
